


Any Hemisphere

by dizzy



Category: Farscape RPF
Genre: AU, Apocalypse, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-10
Updated: 2010-04-10
Packaged: 2017-10-08 20:21:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy





	Any Hemisphere

Claudia's never felt so alone before. She can't remember what it felt like to be near people. Big open spaces, voices, laughter, shouts, children, distant memories. She's so cold now, never warm any more. She's running out of food, running out of everything. Her clothes are threadbare, shoes worn at the heels. She's been walking without gaining distance, traveling in circles. She can't leave her home, but she can't stay.

She's not sure what she's looking for. Someone. Something. Familiarity. A shred of the existence that used to be hers.

A familiar face.

Blue eyes.

Someone says her name.

She's crying, crumpling to the ground. It can't be real. This can't be real.

*

There's a hand on her cheek when she wakes up. She's cradled into a body larger than hers, warmer. Her hand grasps at the edge of a t-shirt and she makes a wild noise, desperate.

"Shhh," He says, arms tighter around her. "Claud. Claudia."

"No," she hiccups, her moment of hysteria fading as she begins to take in her surroundings. "Ben?"

"It's me. We've been looking for you."

"Ben, it... they..."

"I know."

"I didn't think-"

"Wasn't gonna leave you." He says, pressing a face to her hair. She turns, flings herself at him and buries her face against him. He smells bitter and musky, like dirt and the acrid stench of smoke that permeates everything now, but she finds a place that's all -Ben- and she presses her nose to it.

"Claud." He says again, pulling back

She kisses him.

They've never kissed, not them. Before, yes. They had reasons. Excuses. A job. A paycheck. All part of the gig. They wanted, yes, they wanted very much but they were good. They had restraint.

No such thing now. No reason to hold back. They kiss wetly, messily, hands grappling. She's crying again, tears and snot and spit and it's disgusting and she's laughing when she pulls away. He's laughing too, and his eyes are wet and red and she wonders how long it's even been. One hand on his cheek, she gives him another kiss.

*

There's a group. A dozen or so adults. He explains it all to her. The children are back, somewhere else - being taken care of. There are thirty, maybe forty of them. They're picking up more. Taking them all back to shelter.

Claudia doesn't ask about Francesca.

She clings to Ben's hand, doesn't leave his side. It's not hard to do. He clings back just as eagerly. They have food and they're out to hunt more, their little rag tag group of scavengers. She cleans up with tepid water and shampoo that he presents with as much blushing pleasure as if it were a dozen roses, and she appreciates it vastly more than if it were.

She sleeps solidly for the first time in three weeks, curled into his lap.

*

She wakes in the wee hours of the morning. Others are still sleeping, so they talk. He tells her about the shelter he's taking her back to.

It's a school. An old school, maybe even abandoned before the world went to hell. There are classrooms turned into living quarters, a cafeteria with long tables, a gym where the kids run and play.

They seem healthy, he says. Whatever happened - who knows, down the road, what kind of problems they'll develop, but for right now they all seem healthy.

His kids are there.

"I'm one of the lucky ones." He says, and his voice shakes and he just looks at her so deep, so hard.

Claudia touches his face, turns his chin to her and kisses her.


End file.
